a little too loud or a little too close
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: Jace Herondale - a man with the habit of getting in life-threatening situations far too often and a long-suffering partner in crime in the face of Alec Lightwood - ends up in yet another accident just in time to start noticing the fact that his life has always been surrounded by a rather suspicious string of coincidences, all somehow involving his best friend.


**Notes: Written for the Jalec Secret Santa of 2018. My giftee said they liked AUs of any sort, so this is what I decided to present. It's going to fully unfold in the next few chapters, but I can at least post this much for now; more to come this Thursday. Title taken from Robbie William's _Candy_ , which I swear will make sense eventually.**

 **Happy holidays, I hope you guys enjoy this and, as always, feedback is most welcome!**

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There were people all around him, Jace could tell; people running around and fussing with enough intensity to rival the usual buzz around his make-up corner before shooting began. The lightning was off for that too, from what he could see when he tentatively cracked an eye open - everything around him was frustratingly bright, a world drowned out completely in white. It had been the same back on the street outside when he'd seen the angel, but this was different. Clinical.

"Angel?"

 _I wasn't talking to you_ , Jace wanted to say, _I wasn't talking at all_ , only apparently he had. It took him a moment to realise that the question hadn't been intended for him.

"I think he's just dreaming," another voice said, the tone disinterested but hopeful. "We'll be able to talk to him soon. Did you call Lightwood already?"

" _Alexander_ Lightwood?"

"Who else?"

There was a brief debate on whether Alec was actually his next of kin or just the person that everyone called when there was something wrong with Jace and then someone was making a call, likely from his phone. Who had given them the password for that, come to think of it? It couldn't have been the man on the street; it would have been too- mundane. Jace couldn't remember what he'd looked like aside from the wings, but there had been so much light - enough to blind him and make him feel safe all at once. It was exactly like the stories he'd heard as a child, only a lot less violent and a lot more real.

"He keeps talking about angels."

"No wonder." There was a hint of sordid amusement in the other Doctor's - or nurse, more likely, Jace realised; they'd been left to supervise him - voice. "It's Jace Herondale. You know what they say about his father."

"That he's not actually his father?"

Gossip. Really, was there anything better to wake up from a car crash to?

 _Car_ _crash_. The memories flooded him so quickly that it seemed absurd that just a moment ago, he'd had no clue where he was. A _hospital_. Obviously. And it hadn't been a car crash, he'd decided to walk to the studio today - more of a car crashing into him, as a matter of fact, or him crashing into the hood of a car—

"No, I mean all the cult stuff everyone keeps talking about. His grandmother pulled him out of that mess, but— hey, take it easy." The world was still swimming in front of him, but the nurse's alarmed expression was still recognisable enough for Jace to try to keep himself still as they tried to steady him. He hadn't meant to sit up quite so quickly, but the mention of his father along with the sudden return of his far more recent memory had shaken him out of his stupor rather violently. "Take it easy. How are you feeling, Mr Herondale?"

"Like I've been run over by a car." Judging by the silence that reigned around him, they hadn't found it quite as funny as he'd thought it was. "Where's Alec?"

"On his way." The nurse's hold on him had lessened somewhat and Jace made a conscious effort to relax back against the pillows. "As is Mrs Herondale."

Jace groaned. "Who called her?"

"She had to be notified. You've agreed to—"

"Yes, yes." Jace had no doubt that he had, in fact, signed some papers about that at some point, but that didn't make it an easier pill to swallow. Not that having her yell him over the phone a few hours from now was a better alternative, of course, and it would be easier to just brace himself and bear it now. Neither she nor Alec would ever let him hear the end of this and even he had to admit that they'd be partially right. He'd been running a little late, he hadn't been paying attention - the accident had all the markings of being his fault and they would know. They always did. "What's wrong with me, exactly?"

"You'll have to get yourself scanned, but we're thinking light concussion," the nurse said. He'd let go of him entirely now, one hand still braced against the bed as if he has afraid that Jace would make a run for it. It wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, really, and he supposed he only had himself to blame - he'd consciously created the persona he used in front of the media and it was only fair that they'd treat him like it. "Nothing more from what we can tell."

"Just that?" To say that he'd got off lightly would have been a gross understatement and one that Jace didn't want to downplay just now. They had been right before, when they'd discussed his father and the appearances of angels in his dreams - they had always been a reoccurring topic. After his father's not so brief dwelling into the occult, all manners of celestial creatures had haunted his subconscious. Some of them had been hostile, others - benevolent, but he'd never been too good at telling whether they were real or not. He knew what his father would have said and what his grandmother's response would be if he ever confessed about any of it to her, but he'd always preferred to keep this particular topic close to his chest. No one would understand, with one notable exception.

"Mr Lightwood is here to see you," the other nurse said just as Jace had made to try and get up in search of information - or his best friend - and just like that, he'd given up the ghost of any sort of investigation in favour of the feeling of Alec's arms wrapped around him, his embrace tight and frantic in a way it only ever was when he was terrified of whatever had happened and equally terrified of showing it. "Careful, Sir, we're still not sure if he—"

"I'm fine," Jace said into his shirt, voice just a little muffled by the material as well as his own wide smile. He'd known that he'd see Alec today, of course - they'd been meant to shoot together and, if Alec's clothes were to be taken into consideration, he'd come here straight from set - but it was different, somehow, to know that he'd been summoned here because he'd been in an accident. It had been just a little like magic - he'd felt lost and confused and here Alec was, a certain fixture in the middle of a world that kept spinning madly and maybe he had hit his head a bit too hard if this was the kind of thought process going through his mind just now. "I'm fine, Alec, there's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Alec hissed. He'd moved away enough to be able to look at him but not enough to have to let go, the anxiety in his eyes overshadowed only by the relief to see him in one piece. "What happened?"

"I was going to be late," Jace said; the first retelling of a story he knew he would have to repeat for at least a week before everyone calmed down enough to be able to believe that he really was all right. "There was a shortcut I knew and—"

"Trying to step directly through people's cars doesn't count as a shortcut, Jace." Alec still hadn't moved away; his hands steady at Jace's elbows as if still relishing in the knowledge that there was no irreparable damage. "Angel. Being late isn't the end of the world."

The almost-curse of the Angel's name - it wasn't supposed to be one, but that's what it always came out sounding when Alec was the one saying it - was enough to startle Jace into his previous thought process all over again. They'd been friends since childhood, what with their parents being members of the same church, and even if they'd both eventually grown out of the aforementioned parents's beliefs, some habits died hard. Of course, it had been more than just a church - far more sinister no matter which way you looked at it - and the memory of some of it was the only reason Jace decided to speak up. Anyone else would have stuck to the story about the concussion or dreams - both, perhaps - but if there was one person who would always take him seriously, then Jace was staring him right in the face.

"I saw an angel today."

"You what?" True to form, Alec took a quick look at their surroundings, only to confirm that they'd been left alone - or, well, as alone as anyone ever was in a hospital. "How do you know?"

"I just do." It was a complicated thing to explain, but it wasn't like they hadn't talked about it before. They both knew what had happened in some of Valentine's laboratories back in the day, far away from people's eyes as well as their perception of what reality was. "It was exactly like last time."

Alec's lips were pursed into a thin line, his displeasure more obvious than it had ever been. " _Last time_ was far worse, though, Jace." It had been, even if Jace hadn't been willing to admit it - nearly suffocating in an avalanche while on a holiday wasn't a pleasant experience to retell and he'd avoided it as much as possible. Suspicion had snuck its way into Alec's eyes. "Don't tell me you did this on purpose."

"Are you out of your mind?" Jace wasn't sure which one of them the question was directed at, suddenly, as the world swayed around him again and he ground himself back into his original position by fixing his eyes on Alec once more. There was something familiar about his expression. The fierce protectiveness of it felt like it had been laid out in his mind over not only the hundreds of times Alec had berated him for being reckless, but over something else as well; something otherworldly and foreign and still so, so close. "You know better than anyone what effects Valentine's experiments had. It's not like I'd encourage this."

"No," Alec relented. "Of course not. Come on," he moved on swiftly before the silence had had the chance to stretch out between them and allow doubt to settle in. "Let's get your brain scanned." His best friend helped him to his feet, just on the edge of being too rough as he muttered under his breath. "Might even be enough to convince me that it's actually there."


End file.
